Machine for removing threads from fabric.



H. W. SHELF.

MACHINE FOR REMOVING THREADS FROM FABRIC.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 31. I913. RENEWED lUNE 8. 1916.

1 ,1 9 1,239. Patented July 18, 1916.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

I W'vmesses:

hxvewwl,

R '9 $3M b-MM MW mu mnems I'Erzns ca. :mom-umo. .wmmwmu. n cy H. W. SHELP.

MACHINE FOR REMOVING THREADS FROMFABRIC.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. a1. 1913. RENEWED JUNE 8.19MB.

1,191,239. Patented Jul 18, 1916.

. v 2 SHEETSSHEET 2.

N I a Km: mums m: NORRIS rsrsns ca, ruom-umm wasmucmn. n. c.

onnrcn.

HENRY w. SHE-LP, or cHIcAeo, ILLINOIS.

MACHINE non annovnve THREADS-FROM FABRIC.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed March'31, 1913, Serial No. 757,821. Renewed J'une8, 1916, Serial No. 102,598.

T all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HENRY W. SHELP, a citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Machines for'Removing manner abovedescribed', andil-gfineral to,

Threads from Fabric, of-which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to a machine or apparatus for cutting or removing. certain threads from pieces of fabric, and also preferably includes means forsimultaneously cutting wide strips of fabric so as to produce narrow strips with the threads removed from the center portions thereof.

This machine is particularly intended for making strips-of cloth to be used in'making leaf hinges, although it may also be adapted for other uses. In making leaf hinges for uniting, two or more strips of paper, such as leaves of music, I have found it desirable to use strips of fabric made from cloth having longitudinal and transverse threads with the longitudinal threads omitted or removed from the central portion of the hinge strip.

Such strips are used by pasting or stickingthe leaves to the sides of the strip so that the transverse threads at the point where the longitudinal threads are omitted will provide an exceedingly flexible bending or hinge portion. I have found it difiicult, if not impossible, to have such strips woven, as the longitudinal threads adjacent to the central portion of the strip are apt'to become disarranged or slip into the central portion, thereby filling up the space intended to be left free of such threads. I, therefore, found it desirable to make such strips or hinges from wide pieces of fabric which had been sized or treated with dressing in the ordinary manner, or also coated on one side wlth mucilage or gum, by cutting the wide piece provide a machine of this character which wlll be comparatively simple in construction and successful and economical in operation. In" the accompanying drawings illustratmg my invention; Figure 1 represents a strip of. fabric which is shown for convenience to illustrate the character of the work to be done by the machine; Fig. 2 is a diagrammatical View intended to. illustrate, the different operations performed by the ma chine; Fig. 8 is a side view of a machine embodying the principal features of my invention; Fig. 4: is a plan'view of thesame with parts omitted or broken away for convenience in illustration; and, Fig. 5 is a detail showing the method of holding the files or abrading devices.

As shown in Fig. 1, the leaf hinge 6 is made of fabric having longitudinal threads 7 and-transverse threads 8, with the longitudinal threads removed from the center of the strip. One of the principal uses of" my machine is to make such hinges from wide strips of cloth. The general operation of the machine will be readily understood from. Fig. 2'. A plurality of knives or cutters'9 are provided for cutting the: clothinto strips. These strips then pass between serrated wheels or rolls 10 and 11, which are set so that the teeth will mesh a suflicient distance to out, sever or break the longitudinal threads, without injuring the transverse threads to any objectionable extent. The teeth of these serrated wheels or rolls do not need to be made particularly sharp, as the intermeshing of the same gives more of a breaking or severing action on the longitudinal threadsthan a cutting action. In other words, the portion of the longitudinal thread which restson the teeth of the lower serrated wheel will be broken or severed by being pressed down between such teeth by the teeth of theupperwheel. On account of the dressing on the cloth, itwould be impractical to depend upon sharp cutting edges for cuttingthe fabric,;as' the dressing would soon dull such. edges. Furthermore,

' sharp cutting edges would bemore apt toinjure the transverse threads than with my breaking: or severing; device: It will be noted that the dressing-or gum on the cloth tends to hold the-pieces-ofseveredpor-broken longitudinal threadsin; engagement with the transverse threads. In order to remove these clinging pieces, the strip 6, then passes between cleaning or abrading devices, such as indicated at 12 and 13. Different forms of cleaning or abrading devices may be used, but as indicated in these drawings, I utilize pairs of files between which the strips are passed, these files being reciprocated longitudinally in order to loosen the clinging portions of the severed threads. As shown in Figs. 3 to 5, I provide a machine for performing these operations in a continuous manner. This machine comprises a frame 14, of any suitable form for receiving and supporting the various parts. A drive shaft 15 is mounted in the frame and may be driven in any desired manner. This shaft is provided at one end with a pinion 16, which meshes with a pinion 17, on a shaft 18, which shaft is also mounted in suitable bearings on the frame. This shaft is provided at its upper end with a gear or pinion 19 which meshes with a gear 20 on a shaft 21 extending across the machine at the upper front end of the frame. This shaft carries the serrated cutting or breaking mem her or members 11 and drives the same. For convenience in construction and adjustment, the serrated member 11 is preferably made in the form of a roll extending across the machine with longitudinal teeth out in the periphery thereof. A shaft 22 is mounted above the shaft 21 and carries the serrated members 10. These members are made of the same width as desired for the open space in the center of the hinge, or in other words,

i of suflicient width to cut out as many of the longitudinal threads as desired. These cutters or serrated wheels 10 are held in adjusted position on the shaft 22 in any de sired manner, as by means of spreaders or sleeves 23. It will be readily seen that the cutters or serrated wheels 10 may be readily adjusted along the shaft 22 by changing the length of the spreaders 23, or inserting additional spreaders or washers. These serrated wheels or cutters which mesh with the teeth of the cutting or breaking members 11, will sever or break the longitudinal threads of the fabric passing between them, but the teeth of the lower member will not affect the fabric, except at the points where the upper cutters co-act therewith. Immediately in front of the rotating serrated cutting or breaking members is a bar or support 24 on which are mounted a plurality of knives or cutters 9 for cutting the wide sheet of fabric 25 into a plurality of strips 6. These knives are preferably arranged in advance of the cutters or breakers for removing the threads, and are so spaced that the cutters or breakers 10 will register with the centers of the strips 6. The wide piece of cloth 25, from which the strips 6 are to be made, is preferably provided in the form means of pins 30 as indicated in Fig. 5.

of a roll 26, which is mounted on a shaft or roller 27 supported by means of arms 28 at the end of the frame 14.

The lower files or abrading members 13 are mounted upon a frame 29, and are spaced so as to register with the centers of the strips 6. These members may be held on the frame in any desired manner, as by The frame 29 is provided with trunnions or bearings 31 and 32, which extend through slots 33 and 34 in the sides of the main frame for supporting the same. The trunnions 32 are connected by means of pitmen 35, with crank wheels 36, which wheels are mounted on a shaft 37 at the rear of the machine, and are drivenby means of belts 38 from pulleys 39 on the main driving shaft 15. The upper files or abrading members 12 are supported in a frame 40, and are spaced to register with the lower members 13. They may be held in position in any desired manner, as by means of pins 41, and are preferably provided with springs 42 which tend to press them down toward the lower members 13. The frame 40 is provided with trunnions or supports .43 and 44 which extend through slots 45 and 46 in the main frame. The trunnions 44 are connected by means of pitmen 47 with crank wheels 48, which are mounted on a shaft 49 at the rear of the machine. The shaft 49 is driven by means of gears 50 which mesh with gears 51 on the shaft 37. The strips 6 are wound up on rollers 52 and 53 which are mounted in the rear of the main frame, and which may be driven in any desired manner, for in stance by means of belts 54 and 55, which pass around pulleys 56 and 57 at the ends of the rollers, and around the pulley 58 on the shaft 21. These belts and pulleys are preferably arranged so that the rollers 52 and 53 will be driven sutficiently fast to keep the strips tight without placing too much tension thereon. In order to do this, the rolls may be driven at a greater speed than sufficient to take the strips as they come from the serrated cutting members, and the belts may be allowed to slip, or the pulleys 56 and 57 may be allowed to slip on the roller shafts to provide a frictional drive. The alternate strips 6 are carried to the upper and lower rollers 52 and 53 in order to keep them clear of each other.

The operation of the machine as a whole is as follows: The material, such as a wide roll of cloth is placed in position on the supporting arms 28 and the end brought under the knives 9, and between the ser rated cutting or breaking members 10 and 11, and then between the files or abrading members 12 and 13, the strips thus formed being passed under the shaft 49 which serves as a guide to the strips which are carried up to the roll 52, the alternate strips being carried over the shaft 37 and down to the roll 53. With the main shaft 15 being turned, preferably by power, the shaft 21 which carries the lower serrated cutting or breaking member or members 11 will be driven, which tends to draw the cloth or fabric over the support which carries the knives or cutters 9. The lower serrated member 11 co-acts with the disks or cutters 10 to break or cut the longitudinal threads at the centers of the strips 6. These strips then pass between the files or abrading members 12 and 13, which are being reciprocated through the action of the reciprocating mechanism above described and which serve to remove the short pieces of longitudinal threads which may be stuck to the transverse or cross-threads. The strips 6 then pass to the respective rolls 52 and 53 where they are wound up. If the cloth or fabric has been originally coated merely with the usual sizing or dressing, the strips may then have their side portions coated with gum for attachment to the leaves. However, I prefer to use wide strips or rolls of cloth which has been previously coated with gum so that no further treatment is necessary to complete the strips after they have come through the machine. As above suggested, my machine may be adapted for various uses, and various changes may be made in the arrangement and details of the mechanical parts without departing from the spirit of this invention, and therefore, I do not wish to limit myself to the exact form or arrangement shown except as specified hereinafter.

IVhat I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In a machine for removing threads from fabric, the combination of a wheel having teeth in the periphery thereof, a second wheel having teeth in the periphery thereof, meshing with the teeth of the first named Wheel, said teeth being of substantially V-shape, with relatively dull edges, the arrangement being such that the teeth will break the longitudinal threads of a piece of fabric passed between the same, without injuring the transverse threads.

2. In a device of the character set forth, the combination of a pair of serrated cutting devices, having their teeth arranged to mesh a suflicient distance for breaking longitudinal threads of fabric passing between them without breaking the transverse threads.

3. In a machine of the character set forth, the combination of a serrated disk or wheel, means for turning said disk or wheel, and a second disk or wheel mounted adjacent to and having its teeth meshing with the teeth of the first-named one and adapted to co-act therewith for severing threads in fabric.

4. In a machine of the character set forth, the combination of a serrated roller, means for turning said roller, and a plurality of serrated disks spaced from each other and co-acting with said serrated roller for cutting threads from fabric.

5. In a machine for making leaf hinges or the like, the combination of a plurality of cutters for-cutting a sheet of fabric into strips, a serrated roller, means for turning said roller, a plurality of serrated disks mounted adjacent to the roller, and co-acting therewith for cutting the longitudinal threads from the centers of the strips, and means for removing the severed pieces of longitudinal threads from the transverse threads.

6. In a machine for making leaf hinges or the like, the combination of means for cutting a sheet or roll of fabric into strips, means for severing the longitudinal threads at the centers of said strips, and means for removing the portions of the longitudinal threads from the transverse threads.

7 In a machine of the character set forth, the combination of a frame, a plurality of cutters mounted in said frame, a serrated roll mounted adjacent to said cutters, a driving shaft, means for driving said roll from said driving shaft, a plurality of serrated cutting disks meshing with said serrated roll and arranged intermediate of the first-named cutters, a pair of reciprocating frames, means connecting with said driving shaft for reciprocating said frames, files or the like mounted in said frames, winding rolls for winding the completed strips, and means for turning the said winding rolls.

HENRY W. SHELP.

Witnesses IRENE FoRRnsr,

E. B. RINeo.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Eatents, Washington, I). G. 

